The Mechanic
'Season 2 Episode 27 'Batman and Robin are pursuing the Penguin's thugs Eagleton, Falcone and Sheldrake in their getaway vehicle. After Falcone sees that bullets bounce harmlessly off the Batmobile's armor, Eagleton takes drastic action to escape, jumping the car off the end of a diving bridge, to crash into the bed of a garbage scow passing underneath. Batman brakes to a stop, but not soon enough to prevent the front end of the Batmobile going under the bridge and being crushed as it comes back down. The Batmobile limps to a secret garage operated by Earl Cooper, who designed the vehicle. He says he will need a few days to repair it, and in the meantime gives Batman two Batcycles to ride. In his hideout, Penguin is angered that his men have botched the robbery they were assigned to carry out, instead of stealing the rare edition stamps he wanted, they have stolen much less valuable ones by mistake, which aren't even worth enough to cover the repairs to the getaway car. But then Falcone introduces an acquaintance of his, Arnold Rundle, who works for an auto parts company. Rundle says that, based on Falcone's description of the damage suffered by the Batmobile, Rundle has created a list of the kind of exotix parts that would be needed to fix it, and has traced a sale of such parts to Earl's garage and has been compiling his list for some time. Penguin is delighted, and rewards Rundle with a large check before bundling him onto a "rubber ducky" boat that vanishes down a raging whirlpool. Penguin and his thugs invade Earl's garage and take Earl and his daughter, Marva, hostage. At first, Earl refuses to help Penguin, who is intrigued to know why he is so loyal to Batman. Earl explains how Batman saved his life, twice. Earl was once an engineer for Global Motors, then quit after the company leaders refused to listen to his warnings about serious safety defects in one of their cars. His former boss sent thugs after Earl, but Batman saved him. Several months later, Earl had been unable to find another job, when Batman appeared again in his run down Batmobile and asks for Earl to design and build him a new one. After it was completed, Batman kept Earl on to maintain and upgrade it. Penguin turns his attention to Marva, forcing Earl to cooperate. Batman and Robin are called in to pick up the repaired Batmobile. With Falcone watching from the shadows, Earl tells Batman that Marva is "down in the basement", and emphasizes that he has fixed the cars air conditioning switch. As soon as they drive away, Penguin follows in his own car, taking Marva along as a hostage and leaving Falcone to guard Earl. Earl has been forced to rig the Batmobile with a remote control held by Penguin. Penguin has a fine old time sending the car on a crazy ride, with the Dynamic Duo trapped inside and unable to control it. Batman pressed the eject button, but it has been disabled. Finally, Penguin decides to end the game. He drives the Batmobile to the roof of a parking structure and prepares to send them off the edge. Batman realizes that Earl was trying to warn them, as "down in the basement" is a slang term in race car driving for crashing. Remembering what else Earl said, Batman presses the air conditioning switch, and the ejector seats fire, launching Robin and he to safety. The Batmobile goes off the edge and explodes, and Penguin believes he has won. Back at the garage, Falcone answers the telephone and receives the news of the Dynamic Duo's death with jubilation. Unable to contain himself, Earl knocks Falcone out and ties him up, then cries, believing his daughter is next. Batman and Robin glide down, and attack Penguin and his thugs. Penguin tries to get away, dragging Marva along and opening fire on Batman until Marva stomps on his feet. Penguin throws Marva to the ground and prepares to kill her, but Robin swerves down and subdues him, allowing Batman to capture him. Earl packs up his toolkit, sad that he will have to leave the garage, now that it's location has been compromised. Batman assures him that he is setting up an even better one for him. He also adds that, from now on, future parts will be ordered through dummy corporations so no one else can trace him as Penguin did. Earl, feeling no regrets after the incident, launches on an enthusiastic description of the newer, better Batmobile he's going to build. At Stonegate Penitentiary, Penguin has been put to work in the license plant factory, scrubbing the finished plate clean. He comes across one that reads "1BAT4U", and tears it in half in a rage. Category:DC Animated Universe Category:Batman : The Animated Series